By Sam Bush
The dreaded Scott Boras is Bryce Harper’s agent, so the Phillies, among other teams, need to pay attention:
Little wonder why Boras smiled when asked if teams are asking him to deliberately slow down the free agent process to provide them more time to make trades.
“That would be a common thread to a lot of clubs,’’ Boras said.
Some teams, like the Phillies, insist they don’t plan to wait. The Phillies grabbed a shortstop in Jean Segura last week, and then turned around Tuesday and signed Andrew McCutchen to a three-year, $50 million contract.
And they’re still in the Harper and Machado sweepstakes, only now with extra inventory to move, including the likes of Odubel Herrera, Nick Williams, Maikel Franco and even prized prospect Sixto Sanchez.
“If you see rumors connecting us to good players either through free agency or trade,’’ Phillies general manager Matt Klentak told reporters Tuesday, “they’re probably true. That doesn’t mean we’re going to do them, but we’re in the business of trying to get better.”
